Posts in the ResourceBlender.NET Category

ResourceBlender has been released under the GPL and is now available open-source!

This means the entire source is available for download and contribution. Both ResourceBlender Express (WPF) and ResourceBlender.NET (ASP.NET) are now on CodePlex under a GPL license.

Contributions to the source are actively encouraged and I'd really love for people to contribute, just ask in the forums for permission or post a patch. The source code is in need of some refactoring, I'm currently in the process of moving a lot of the in-line SQL to a separate file and splitting the data access layer. This will need to be reflected in both versions before I add any more features as the code is becoming difficult to manage. It won't be difficult, but there's a lot of code to refactor and I'm only one person.

Update - 23rd Aug 2009: The majority of splitting the data access code has been completed, but I'd welcome any tips or advice on best practices and methods related to any part ofthe source.

• ResourceBlender.NET on CodeProject
• ResourceBlender.NET Source Repository
• ResourceBlender Express on CodeProject
• ResourceBlender Express Source Repository

It's now quicker to add multiple elements, which speeds up the translation process. There are also several other features which have been mirrored from ResourceBlender Express.

• Added: Bulk add elements.
• Added: Option to specify connection string during installation.
• Changed: Minor database change to allow expandability in the future.
• Removed: Settings page, which was deemed unnecessary. To safely change database connection details, make a backup and re-install.

The Windows Web App Gallery is a list of web applications which can be installed with minimal effort through the Web Platform Installer. Applications include things like Das Blog, WordPress and other successful applications.

The good news is that ResourceBlender.NET is now among them! Thank you Microsoft for the listing, it's very much appreciated.

Lots new in 1.40, including a standalone Resx (.NET managed resource) file editor and a quicker method of adding elements while translating. The Google translator has been updated as well to reflect their newest supported languages.

There's also a minor database schema change, so if you're upgrading you need to backup first. If you're using ResourceBlender.NET and Express together, you'll also need to upgrade to ResourceBlender.NET 1.56.

For safety reasons, no database tables will be deleted during installation, so you'll either need to delete them manually or use a different table prefix.

• Added: Resx file editor.
• Added: Bulk add elements and resources.
• Added: Option to escape unicode characters (with code points above 127) to prevent the need to run native2ascii when generating .properties bundles.
• Added: Option to treat files without a language code in the filename as the default language.
• Added: Option to add languages not currently used by an application when importing resources.
• Added: A sample application when ResourceBlender is installed to show core functionality.
• Added: Option to show completion of resources from languages not used by an application when viewing a resource summary.
• Changed: When filters are applied in the resources grid, editing a resource no longer resets the filters.
• Changed: RBT files can now be opened by specifying them as a command line argument. The install creates a file assosication by default.
• Changed: Updating of the output filename is now more fluid when generating resources.
• Updated: Google Translation API supported languages to include Albanian, Estonian, Galician, Hungarian, Maltese, Thai and Turkish.
• Fixed: When importing from .properties, if a file used CR+LF line breaks, the \r was not removed.

There are several improvements and time savers included in this release as well as a sample application added during the installation which demonstrates basic functionality.

• Added: A sample application when ResourceBlender is installed to show core functionality.
• Added: Option to treat files without a language code in the filename as the default language.
• Added: Option to add languages not currently used by an application when importing resources.
• Added: Option to show completion of resources from languages not used by an application when viewing a resource summary.
• Changed: If the installer does not have permission to write to web.config, a message is now shown with instructions to copy and paste replacement values.
• Fixed: Bug which caused the empty selection validator not to fire on the Create Variant page.
• Fixed: When importing from .properties, if a file used CR+LF line breaks, the \r was not removed.
• ResourceBlender.NET is now ready to be translated, all literal strings have been moved to resource files.

Recent changes include multi-threaded automatic translation and an option to escape international characters when generating .properties bundles, eliminating the need for Java's native2ascii utility.

• Added: Multi-threaded automatic translation with Google Translate.
• Added: Option to escape unicode characters (with code points above 127) to prevent the need to run native2ascii when generating .properties bundles.
• Changed: When merging resources, translator comments are also merged.
• Changed: Java bundles containing escaped unicode sequences are now converted to their string representation when importing.
• Fixed: Bug when exporting Chinese Simplified or Traditional to Java .properties.
• Fixed: Bug when importing PO files which caused the import to fail if two untranslated strings with plurals shared the same first 15 characters.

Full automatic translation and support for GNU's gettext/po format are the main features included in this release. Each translator can now leave comments for each individual translation.

• Added: Automatic machine translation of an entire application using Google Translate.
• Added: Support for PO file import/generation.
• Added: Ability for translators to leave comments for each individual translation.
• Added: Close button to translation finder results.
• Added: Option to specify a table prefix.
• Added: Option to search for blank translations in the AJAX editor.
• Changed: A resource summary for multiple applications can now be displayed.
• Changed: The total number of elements in all bundles is now included in attached summary.txt files.
• Changed: If JavaScript is disabled, a refresh button is displayed so all forms should still be usable.
• Fixed: Bug when using the AJAX editor, then switching applications before the session had expired.
• Fixed: Bug in AJAX editor when filtering by contents of the resource comment.

Resources can now be auto-translated with Google with one click using the AJAX editor. There are several other additions and a couple of bug fixes.

• Added: One-click Google Translate translation.
• Added: Sortable columns to the AJAX editor.
• Added: Multiple pages are now shown for the Similar Translations finder, and the list is sorted alphabetically.
• Added: Filters to AJAX editor.
• Added: Support for custom language codes.
• Added: Asynchronous import, similar to backup.
• Changed: When adding elements, a message is now shown to confirm the element has been added which fades out after 3 seconds.
• Changed: Restoring a backup now shows the number of elements restored during the operation.
• Fixed: AJAX bug which caused multiple requests to be made.

Maintenance of resources is now easier thanks to tools to eliminate duplicate translations, create language variants and show completion percentage of all languages.

• Added: Dashboard to show a summary of all applications.
• Added: Copy translations from language page to assist with variants of the same base language.
• Added: Merge translations button to Duplicate Resources page.
• Added: Resource Summary page to show the completion of translations used by an application.
• Changed: Restoring from a backup file now shows the progress of the task on the server using AJAX.
• Changed: When importing from an XML spreadsheet, ResourceBlender is more tolerant of extra text which users may have added.
• Fixed: Bug which caused resources to sometimes not appear in the resources grid.

Translations are now easier to manage, and it's possible to delete unused translations using a grid.

• Added: Duplicate translation finder.
• Added: Unused translation finder.
• Added: Delete button and a delete confirmation to translation editor.
• Added: Breadcrumb navigation trail.
• Changed: On the AJAX editing grids, if a translation exceeds 25 characters, the text is truncated and tooltip is added to show the full translation.
• Changed: There are more tooltips scattered throughout the UI.
• Changed: Inputs on the Manage Applications page are now disabled when an AJAX request is in progress.